The Left-handed Conjecture

I am left-handed; so I speak from personal experience. However, what I am about to describe works for left handed and right handed (but in reverse).


It is a conjecture because I do not have any statistical data to back-up what I am about to say and I did not had the chance or the time to test this idea against paintings from the masters.


Left handed conjecture: Left handed drawers and painters will have a natural tendancy to represent portraits looking towards the right. It would be the reverse for right-handed artists.






This would make sense anatomically because if you use your wrist as a pivot, it is much easier to trace a convex curves than a concave one. Therefore, it is easier for a left-handed person to trace the main curves of a portrait (the nose, the side of the face) if the model is looking to the right.

If this is correct, you should be able to predict if an artist is left-handed or right-handed by studying the orientation of the composition in a significant number of her or his works.